Survey: Finance and Accounting Worker Confidence Up in Q2

by Terri Eyden on Aug 26 2013printer friendly

By Jason Bramwell

Confidence among US finance and accounting employees hit a high in the second quarter of 2013, spiking nearly ten points from the previous quarter and reaching levels not seen since before the recession, according to a new survey from The Mergis Group[1].

The Mergis Employment Report[2], which is released quarterly by The Mergis Group, a Boston-based staffing agency that is a part of Randstad USA[3], encompasses employee attitudes and sentiment around the economy, job market, job security, employers, and in their ability to find a new job.

Of the 173 US finance and accounting workers surveyed for the second quarter study, 42 percent believe the economy is getting stronger, up twelve percentage points from the first quarter of 2013. The number of employees who believe the economy is getting weaker dropped from 32 percent last quarter to 16 percent this quarter.

Eighty percent of respondents said they felt secure in their jobs, up from 71 percent last quarter. Nearly one-third (31 percent) of finance and accounting employees believe more jobs are available, up from 20 percent from the previous quarter.

Forty-two percent of those in finance and accounting said they are confident in their ability to find a new job, compared to 49 percent in the first quarter. However, the number of workers who said they are not confident they could find a new job decreased from 26 percent to 15 percent.

Nearly four in ten (38 percent) finance and accounting workers said they are likely to look for a new job in the next twelve months, increasing one percentage point from the previous quarter. More than half (56 percent) responded they are not likely to job search, up from 53 percent last quarter.

"We are seeing a lot of movement in the finance and accounting space, particularly in areas such as insurance underwriting and financial analysis," Steve McMahan, president of Randstad Finance & Accounting, Randstad Human Resources, Accountants International, and The Mergis Group, said in a written statement. "We've also seen a major spike in transactional-based accounting searches, technical accounting, domestic tax, and audit searches at the analyst, accountant, and manager levels."

About the survey:

The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of The Mergis Group from April 1-3, May 7-9, and June 4-6 among 3,626 adults eighteen and older, of which 173 are employed in finance and accounting. This online survey is not based on a profitability sample and, therefore, no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.